At the WrestleMania 39 night two post-show press conference, Paul “Triple H” Levesque confirmed that Shane suffered a torn quad at the event. The injury happened right after the start of an impromptu match between Shane and The Miz.
One night after Miz lost an impromptu match to Pat McAfee, Snoop Dogg introduced Shane as Miz’s opponent for night two. Shane briefly spoke on the microphone, getting emotional while thanking the fans for the reception he received. Shane gave Miz punches in the corner after the match started, but his leg gave out on the next spot.
Snoop Dogg improvised after Shane’s injury, giving Miz a People’s Elbow and then pinning him. The referee counted to three to give Snoop Dogg the victory.
“My hats off to Snoop,” Levesque said at the press conference. “He’s a natural born entertainer. I’ve known Snoop for years in this environment and what kind of a fan he is. But, man, tonight from a respect factor for me he put himself on a different playing field for me. Because I know a lot of guys that have been in the business a long time and if that happened they’d be like, ‘What do we do?’ Didn’t miss a beat. It was amazing.”
The most dominant WWE championship reign of the modern era is still ongoing.
Roman Reigns left fans in Los Angeles shocked as he retained the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 39 night two. The finish of the match involved interference by Solo Sikoa.
Sikoa had been ejected from ringside for interfering earlier in the match. But with the referee distracted by Paul Heyman, Sikoa reemerged as Rhodes was on the verge of winning. He gave Rhodes a Samoan Spike, which allowed Reigns to then hit a spear on Rhodes to get the victory.
WrestleMania went off the air with Reigns, Sikoa, and Heyman celebrating and pyro going off.
The Reigns vs. Rhodes match also included involvement by The Usos, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn. When The Usos attacked Rhodes during a ref bump, Owens and Zayn ran in to fight them off. Owens and Zayn also gave Reigns a stunner and a Helluva Kick.
Owens & Zayn won the Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles from The Usos in the main event of WrestleMania 39 night one on Saturday.
Before Reigns vs. Rhodes began, Rhodes’ wife Brandi, his daughter Liberty, his mother Michelle, his sister Teil, and Brodie Lee Jr. (the son of the late Jon Huber) were shown in the front row before the match. As Rhodes interacted with them, he gave a weight belt to Brodie.
Here are some notes from night two of WWE WrestleMania 39 from Los Angeles, California.
Gunther’s reign continues
Going into the three-way Intercontinental title match between Gunther, Sheamus and Drew McIntyre, it was understood that it would be physical and hard-hitting.
Then, there was what we got which went beyond that.
In the end, Gunther got the pin on McIntyre following power bombing Sheamus onto McIntyre’s back and then a second power bomb onto the mat for the win.
His title reign now stands at 297 days and he continues to chase the Honky Tonk Man’s 454-day reign which would be roughly just over five months from now.
Bobby Lashley appearance
The Andre The Giant memorial battle royale winner made an appearance on the stage with the trophy during the show, but there was no in-ring action or angle or anything involved with it or his appearance. He was slated to take on Bray Wyatt at one point, but Wyatt has been dealing with an illness and hasn’t been heard from in weeks.
LA Knight non-appearance
Despite the Los Angeles crowd getting behind him on SmackDown, there was no LA Knight appearance Sunday.
The Bianca Belair dancers
The young dance troupe that performed before Belair’s entrance were from the Divas of Compton who have performed on big stages before like at the 2022 Super Bowl and America’s Got Talent.
Belair retained her Raw Women’s title and celebrated one year as champion in doing so, outlasting Asuka in an outstanding match that was physical in its own right.
Mark Briscoe recognizes Zayn & Owens
After new undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens gave respect to Jay and Mark Briscoe in the post-event press conference, Mark took to Twitter Sunday to pay his own respects to the new champions and even the old ones:
Was on the red eye last night..@SamiZayn@FightOwensFight just watched the match..tag team action at its finest!! Congrats my brothers LOVE YALL@WWEUsos …can’t wait to do it on the other side! ✊🏽 #RESPECT
Legendary sports broadcaster Al Michaels and NFL star George Kittle (who got involved in the Pat McAfee/Miz match Saturday) were recognized on camera. Also in the front row: Endeavor head (and possible future WWE owner) Ari Emanuel and famed music producer/wrestling fan Rick Rubin.
Sponsorship
Before the Hell in a Cell match, actor Russell Crowe did a video hyping it up as part of a sponsorship deal with a new horror movie he is in.
As was the case throughout the weekend, there was an increased sponsorship and ad presence. Another example Sunday was Mike Hard’s Lemonade sponsoring the aforementioned Gunther/Sheamus/McIntyre match which included a pre-match ad.
Everything else:
Attendance was announced as 81,395 for Sunday and 161,892 combined for the two nights.
Tonight marked Brock Lesnar’s 12th WrestleMania match and Nattie’s 11th match and 13th appearance which she said was a “world record for a female in WWE.”
For the second straight night, The Miz got his comeuppance in a strange WWE WrestleMania 39 segment that saw the brief return of Shane McMahon before he tore his quad less than a minute after their impromptu match began.
The surprise savior? Snoop Dogg.
The rapper and The Miz repeated their night one act where they revealed the evening’s attendance and Miz took umbrage with how Snoop Dogg sanctioned the surprise match he had with the returning Pat McAfee the night before.
Snoop Dogg then threatened to do it again and out came the 53-year-old McMahon to his traditional music and in his traditional garb.
After McMahon got emotional and told the fans how much their cheers meant to him, the match began and ended just as quickly.
After taking a few punches, Miz went off the ropes and McMahon did a leapfrog, coming down awkwardly on his leg. He tried to stand up, but immediately collapsed, grabbing his left knee. As the referee checked on him, he said something to Miz who then jumped around the ring to stall.
The camera focused on Miz as he bounced around the ring while McMahon was pulled out, not to be mentioned again.
Snoop Dogg then re-entered and said it wasn’t going down like that, punching Miz not once, but twice. He then hit a People’s Elbow, complete with tossing his sunglasses out to the crowd, to get the pin and end an incredibly memorable moment in WrestleMania history.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque said at the post-event press conference that McMahon tore his quad.
This was McMahon’s first on-screen appearance since the 2022 men’s Royal Rumble that he participated in. Afterward, news broke of some discontent regarding how he had helped book the widely-panned Rumble match and how he positioned himself in doing so, resulting in him being pulled from appearances for Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania 38 and eventually pulled from the company altogether.
In a new interview with ESPN’s Daniel Cormier, Brock Lesnar spoke on his WWE future, stating “I don’t know how long I’m gonna be around.”
In a video posted to ESPN MMA’s YouTube channel, Lesnar spoke with Cormier about his career, retiring from WWE in 2020, and his WrestleMania 39 bout against Omos.
With regard to his WWE future, Lesnar expressed uncertainty:
I don’t know. I don’t know how much more… I don’t know how long I’m gonna be around.
Lesnar also revealed that he considered himself retired from WWE following WrestleMania 36 in 2020:
In 2020, I retired and was gonna be just done. I had my 20 years, COVID hit, my ocntract was up. I had my first match in Hamel, Minnesota in an empty garage. Here I was 20 years later, fighting Drew McIntyre in front of no people for the WWE Championship. I was like, “You know what? It’s came full circle,” and I was truly done.
It did come full circle for me, but I didn’t really want it to end that way.
Lesnar says that a call from Vince McMahon brought him back in 2021:
I grew my beard out, grew my hair out. And then my birthday came around and the phone rang, and it was Vince. He was like ‘What are you doing?” And I was like, “I’m just chilling.””
We didn’t even have a gameplan. He was at SummerSlam, I said let’s do this. I flew down, if we can hash a deal out, I’d love to see you. So I flew down to Vegas, and we’re off to the races.
I was like, “I don’t want to cut my beard or cut my hair.” And he’s like, “I love it.” So here we are.
Lesnar continued:
This company’s been good to me. It’s been a fun ride.
Every time that I think I want to be done, I get to the ring, and I get to the building, and that’s the part of the business that I really love.
I left the business early because I just didn’t like the travel. I’m just a simple man, and it was just too much for me at the time.
On his WrestleMania 39 with Omos, Lesnar said that the match was proposed to him, and he saw it as a challenge and an opportunity to give back to wrestling. Lesnar defeated Omos in the opening match of WrestleMania Sunday:
I liked this matchup when it was proposed to me, because I just like the David and Goliath. Some people look at me like the Goliath, and just the sheer size difference in this human being. I approach this like it’s one of them things where it’s me giving back to the business now.
Giving back and wanting to intrigue these young men that want to become and do what I’ve done over the years. The roles have reversed a bit, and I’m enjoying it.
I’m excited for the match tonight. It’s a challenge. It’s a challenging match. This guy is big, he moves well, and I don’t know if I can even get him over my head.
It was just something that was proposed and I don’t make the calls around here.
Lesnar also praised Paul Heyman for his role in his career, and his contributions to WWE, especially over the last year:
Without Paul, this business wouldn’t be what it is today, especially in the last year. Paul, behind the scenes, wears a lot of hats for this company. He’s greatly respected and greatly appreciated.
As for a potential future title reign, Lesnar was non-committal:
Of course it does, we all want to be a champion. But at this point in my career, I don’t know that I really need it. I would like another opportunity at it if things worked out that way, yeah.
Date: April 2, 2023 Location: SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA
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Show Recap —
KICK-OFF SHOW
The pre-show panel was Kayla Braxton, Wade Barrett, Booker T and Kevin Patrick.
Peter Rosenberg accosted Liv Morgan backstage and she said there was a 100,000% chance that her team would win tonight. He continued backstage, bumping into Stacy Keibler coming out of the elevator by pure coincidence, Bronson Reed, and the Street Profits (who were pumped for Bianca Belair).
Paul Heyman interview
Cathy Kelley asked Paul Heyman if the downfall of the Usos last night would mean the downfall of Roman Reigns tonight.
Heyman told a story about his younger self being at Starrcade and meeting Dusty Rhodes. Heyman called Dusty a father figure to him. He recalled Dusty complimenting his promo but Dusty asked him, “but where’s the money?”
Heyman asked himself that question for years and now he knew the answer: Roman Reigns. Heyman called this the highest-grossing WrestleMania and it was because of Reigns — not Cody Rhodes. Reigns didn’t crack under the pressure he was put under and he was ready. Cody should be ready to lose to the money, Roman Reigns.
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George Kittle joined the panel to discuss his involvement last night and what he’s looking forward to tonight.
Brock Lesnar against Omos will open the show.
The panel finished up discussing the main event.
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In the signature video that starts every WWE show, they’ve added Roman Reigns saying, “Acknowledge me.”
WRESTLEMANIA 39 NIGHT TWO — MAIN SHOW
Jimmie Allen performed America the Beautiful.
Kevin Hart did the intro video again.
The Miz and Snoop Dogg kicked things off again. Miz mentioned the new champions, Rhea Ripley, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn and the crowd cheered them. Snoop told the crowd to fire it up.
Brock Lesnar defeated Omos (w/MVP) (4:55)
Lesnar got a big fireworks display and Michael Cole mentioned that this is his 12th Mania match.
Lesnar tried a tackle but Omos grabbed him and flung him aside and Lesnar took a great bump. Omos blocked Lesnar’s offence and easily scoop-slammed him twice. Omos targetted his lower back and applied a bearhug, taking Lesnar off his feet. Omos slammed him again and again applied a bearhug as the crowd cheered on Lesnar.
Lesnar tried to fight back but Omos hit a chokeslam for two. Lesnar avoided a charge and hit two German suplexes. Lesnar really sold his back but he managed to hit another German as the crowd cheered. Lesnar went for an F5 but fell under the weight.
Lesnar countered a chokeslam and hit an F5 for the pinfall win.
The crowd enjoyed this and it was as good as it was going to be. Lesnar’s big moves were damn impressive.
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Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler defeated Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez, Natalya & Shotzi and Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville (8:21)
There was a spot early where Green went for a missile dropkick but Rodriguez no-sold it. Rodriguez, Morgan and Natalya gave Baszler a triple powerbomb. Shotzi wiped out Green and Deville with a flying crossbody. Shotzi took out a couple of opponents with a suicide dive and Green followed with a dive off the top. Rodriguez then powerbombed her partner Morgan onto the group outside.
Deville and Green worked together with strikes to take out Rodriguez. Natalya and Shotzi gave Deville a Hart Attack before Natalya slammed Green onto Deville. Natalya stacked Green and Deville on top of each other and put them both in the Sharpshooter at the same time, which popped the crowd. Morgan broke it up by giving Natalya a Codebreaker.
Morgan gave Shotzi an Oblivion but Baszler and Rousey broke up the cover. They beat up Morgan and Shotzi before Rousey tapped out Shotzi with the armbar.
(Rousey’s left arm was in a soft brace again as it was on Smackdown a couple of weeks ago. The armbar was basically all she did.)
The match was ok. The crowd was pretty quiet for it.
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They introduced Bobby Lashley as the winner of the Andre the Giant battle royal. He entered in street clothes and posed with the big trophy. He was all smiles as he soaked in the crowd reaction. (I kinda felt bad for Lashley as this seems like it for him for the night.)
Xavier Woods was backstage with Nikki Cross, Tegan Nox, Madcap Moss, Hit Row, and Angelo Dawkins. They ran a simulation on WWE 2K23 that determined Drew McIntyre was the most likely to win the triple threat.
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Titus O’Neil joined commentary for the next match.
(Last night, Cinnamon Toast Crunch was the sponsor for Rey vs. Dominik Mysterio and it was somewhat distracting. Mike’s Hard Lemonade was the sponsor for this match and they even had an ad with Sheamus and McIntyre.)
Triple Threat Match: Gunther defeated Drew McIntyre and Sheamus to retain the Intercontinental Championship (16:36)
McIntyre immediately knocked Gunther out of the ring with a dropkick which allowed him and Sheamus to go at it. Gunther came back in and returned the favour to McIntyre before teeing off on Sheamus’ chest. The crowd gave him an applause for his lethal chops, which turned Sheamus’ chest red. Gunther put him in a Boston Crab but McIntyre smacked him twice in the face.
Gunther and McIntyre exchange chops and McIntyre actually won the exchange which got a pop from the crowd. Sheamus came back in and they all took turns clobbering each other.
Sheamus did ten beats of the Bodhrán but in between each shot, McIntyre also chopped Gunther. Sheamus did almost 30 beats of the Bodhrán as the crowd counted along. The crowd loved all of this and Cole was freaking out.
Gunther gave Sheamus a big boot, German suplex, and lariat for two. Gunther hit another big lariat but Sheamus kicked out. McIntyre gave Gunther a neckbreaker before suplexing Sheamus into Gunther in the corner. Gunther ducked a Claymore kick and followed with a dropkick and powerbomb for a nearfall.
Sheamus gave Gunther a White Noise off the middle rope and a Celtic Cross (Razor’s Edge) for a nearfall. Sheamus put Gunther in a cloverleaf but McIntyre broke it up. Sheamus handed out knee strikes to both men.
Sheamus hit Gunther with the Brogue Kick and the crowd was going nuts but McIntyre broke up the cover. The crowd chanted “this is awesome.” McIntyre hit Sheamus with an Undertaker dive and the crowd chanted “holy shit.”
McIntyre went for the Claymore Kick but Sheamus hit him with a perfectly timed Brogue Kick for a close nearfall. The crowd gave them a standing ovation.
They exchanged strikes until McIntyre hit Sheamus with Claymore Kick for a nearfall.
They traded right hands until Sheamus hit another Brogue Kick but he was too beat up and took too long to make a cover. As he did make the cover, Gunther broke it up with a splash.
Gunther powerbombed Sheamus onto McIntyre’s arched back and gave McIntyre powerbomb for the pinfall win.
This was amazing. The crowd loved it and the announcers gave it a standing ovation.
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Bianca Belair defeated Asuka to retain the Raw Women’s Championship (15:57)
Asuka’s entrance included four different women dressed as Asuka in masks prancing on the stage as she made her entrance. Bianca Belair’s entrance was very cool. She had more than a dozen young Black girls do a dance number to introduce her and the crowd applauded it.
Belair wore black and gold, Asuka wore red and gold (with blue and red hair).
Belair was briefly in control but Asuka used a cool strike combo to take over. Asuka tried a super German suplex but Belair landed on her feet and hit a spinebuster for two. Belair tried a standing moonsault but Asuka caught her in a submission. Asuka transitioned into a version of the Asuka Lock but Belair got out of the ring.
They fought outside and Belair hit a brutal-looking powerbomb before rolling Asuka in the ring for a two count. They traded counters before Asuka hit a missile dropkick for two.
They exchanged moves on the apron until Belair hit an impressive deadlift vertical suplex, bringing Asuka into the ring from the outside for a two count. The crowd was getting quiet but they applauded that spot. They traded cradles and counters until Asuka hit a kick to the head for two.
There were dueling chants as Belair hit a blockbuster and standing moonsault for two. Asuka hit a knee strike but Belair came right back with a tackle. They battled on the top but Asuka pulled Belair down by the braid and hit a Codebreaker for two. Belair got Asuka up in Glam Slam position and drove her into the turnbuckle.
Belair tried a KOD but Asuka got out of it. Belair almost hit the referee and Asuka wanted to use the distraction to mist Belair but she ducked it.
Belair went for the KOD but Asuka reversed into an armbar. The crowd went nuts because they thought this might a title change but Belair fought out and hit KOD for the pinfall win. Belair retains.
This was a really strong match. The crowd was relatively quiet for the first half but they got really into it after that.
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George Kittle and Al Michaels were shown in the crowd.
They replayed Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn beating the Usos to win the tag titles. They focused on the finish of Zayn hitting Jey with multiple Helluva Kicks.
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Snoop and Miz were in the ring dancing to Nuthin’ But A “G” Thang. Miz announced an attendance of 81,395 bringing the two-night total to 161,892.
Miz complained to Snoop about putting him in an impromptu match last night. Snoop said, “my bad” but Miz didn’t like that response. Miz said this was his city but Snoop told him this was “our city.” Snoop had an opponent.
Shane McMahon entered. Shane grabbed a mic and told the crowd how much their response meant to him. Snoop made a match official.
Shane McMahon Snoop Dogg defeated The Miz
This was something.
Shane was doing whatever his offence is before he suddenly fell, apparently injuring his leg. Referee Jessika Carr and a trainer checked on Shane.
Snoop stepped in and dropped Miz with a right hand. He asked Shane if he was ok before they rolled him out of the ring.
Snoop dropped Miz again and hit a People’s Elbow for the pinfall win. Snoop danced and the crowd cheered.
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There was a movie ad tie-in with Russell Crowe who introduced the match by video.
Edge entered as “Brood Edge” but fortunately, they didn’t do the regular Brood entrance. I know everyone loves that entrance but Edge doing that bit at this point in his career is weird. Instead, Edge had a new outfit and he came up through the stage to “South of Heaven” by Slayer. Edge’s regular Alter Bridge music hit and he made his entrance.
Finn Bálor entered as the demon to his old music. (There’s still a bit of daylight out which didn’t help the entrance but it still looked pretty cool.)
Hell in a Cell match: Edge defeated Finn Bálor (18:08)
They went for weapons under the ring right away as Edge grabbed a red steel chair while Bálor grabbed a purple kendo stick (Judgment Day’s colours are purple). Edge hit Bálor with the chair but he no-sold it and hit Edge repeatedly with the stick. There were also red kendo sticks and Edge pulled out a bunch of them before hitting Bálor with a purple one.
Three minutes in, the crowd chanted “we want tables.” Edge trapped Bálor in the corner of the Cell by pinning him into it with two kendo sticks. Edge followed with a missile dropkick off the apron. Bálor sold that he got hit but also sold like it didn’t hurt.
Edge set up a purple table to the delight of the crowd but Bálor busted free of the kendo sticks and went to town on Edge who fought back soon later with an impaler DDT. Bálor basically popped right up and hit a slingblade. (They’re really pushing that Bálor is a different animal as the demon.)
Bálor then hit a running dropkick, sending Edge through the table he set up. Bálor whipped a few chairs at Edge’s face but Edge booted him and hit an Unprettier in the ring. Edge hit an Edge-o-matic but Bálor kicked out at one.
Edge shoved a ladder into Bálor’s face and Bálor came up bleeding. It looked like this was hard-way blood and the ref stopped Edge so they could clean up Bálor. The crowd booed because they didn’t want the match to pause. They showed a replay and while Bálor did get his hands up, the ladder did appear to hit him right on the forehead.
As the medical staff checked on Bálor, Edge took more weapons out from under the ring to distract the crowd.
Bálor popped back up and stomped Edge. Edge avoided a Coup de Grace which led to a double down as they clotheslined each other. Bálor is still bleeding.
Bálor responded with a slingblade, dropkick and Coup de Grace for two.
Bálor climbed a ladder but Edge hit him with a kendo stick. Edge used the ladder to bring Bálor down from the top rope with an Edgecution for a nearfall.
Edge pulled out a table but Bálor attacked him with a kendo stick and hit him repeatedly in the midsection with a chair. With Edge on a table, Bálor climbed the inside of the Cell onto a little platform (that isn’t normally there) about halfway up the Cell. Bálor tried a Coup de Grace but Edge moved and Bálor crashed through the table.
Edge followed with a spear for a nearfall. Edge hammered away on Bálor’s back with the stick and red chair.
Edge grabbed another chair and hit a con-chair-to without hesitating for the pinfall win.
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They’re killing a lot of time before the main event.
There was a commercial and a video package of all the movie parodies.
Kayla Braxton interviewed Belair who said she was living the dream. Belair’s dancer friends joined her and they celebrated together.
They recapped the Hall of Fame and brought out the 2023 Hall of Famers/Hall of Famer families. Rey Mysterio got his own entrance of course. Rey embraced Stacy Keibler, the Great Muta, and the families of Andy Kaufman and Tim White.
There was a video for next year’s WrestleMania in Philadelphia. They also showed Seth Rollins’ entrance from last night. This might’ve been a spot for a commercial break depending on how you’re watching. There was also a TurboTax commercial regardless of how you’re watching.
There was a video package for the main event.
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Cody Rhodes entered and the crowd loudly sang the high points of his song. Rhodes embraced his wife, daughter, sister and mother at ringside. His young daughter was wearing headphones to block the loud noises but she took them off after her dad hugged her. Cody gave his weight belt to Brodie Lee’s oldest son (Negative 1), who was acknowledged by Michael Cole.
Reigns’ entrance included six or so piano players performing ahead of his regular entrance.
Roman Reigns (w/Paul Heyman & Solo Sikoa) defeated Cody Rhodes to retain the WWE Universal Championship (35:27)
Samantha Irvin did the ring intros and the crowd is very much into this. Both men got big reactions but Cody is very obviously the favourite. Reigns grabbed the mic and said, “WrestleMania — acknowledge me.”
They had an exchange that led to Rhodes doing the Goldust uppercut spot. Reigns regrouped outside the ring as Heyman told him to smash Cody. Reigns gained some offence but Rhodes cut him off with a dropkick for one. Rhodes tried a Disaster Kick but Reigns caught him and hit a powerbomb for two.
Reigns was in control for a bit but after he tried to toss Rhodes from the ring, Rhodes bounced back in and went after him. However, Reigns blocked a PK and dropped Rhodes on the apron. Reigns slammed Rhodes on the ramp but Rhodes responded by doing the same.
Rhodes had the advantage but as the referee checked on Reigns, Sikoa hit Rhodes in the ribs with a chair. Reigns followed with a drive-by dropkick for two. Rhodes tried to fire back but Sikoa tripped him, as the ref dumbly looked at Reigns, and Reigns followed with a clothesline for two.
Reigns cleared both announce tables and tried a powerbomb but Rhodes blocked and backdropped him through a table. In the ring, Rhodes hit strikes, a powerslam and Cody Cutter for two. (Cole went a little too crazy, somehow thinking Rhodes would win with a springboard cutter.)
Rhodes hit a suicide dive and they appeared to clonk heads (Rhodes checked on Reigns before chucking him back in the ring). Sikoa whipped Rhodes with his weight belt and the ref finally stopped playing dumb and he chucked Sikoa from ringside. The crowd cheered.
Reigns wanted to use the belt but the ref stopped him and the distraction allowed Rhodes to hit a superkick and Cross Rhodes for a nearfall. The crowd was really buzzing. (Cole said, “this was Cody’s chance!” which is exactly what he said earlier after the Cody Cutter.)
Reigns fought back with a jawbreaker and Uranage/Rock Bottom for two. Rhodes ducked a superman punch and hit a Pedigree for a nearfall.
Rhodes went for Disaster Kick but Reigns caught him in mid-air with a superman punch for two. Reigns seemed to be filled with self-doubt but Heyman assured him that Rhodes was ready to be defeated. Reigns went for a spear but Rhodes flipped over into a cradle for two before applying a figure four but Reigns countered it.
They traded right hands before Reigns dodged Rhodes’ move off the top and hit a spear for a nearfall. Reigns applied a guillotine as the crowd chanted for Rhodes. Rhodes tried to fire up but Reigns wrapped his legs around Rhodes.
Rhodes fought out of it and attacked Reigns but Reigns ducked a kick and Rhodes booted the referee. Both men went down after Reigns hit a superman punch and Rhodes hit a clothesline.
Rhodes set up for the Cross Rhodes but Jimmy and Jey Uso came in and superkicked him before hitting 1D. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn ran in through the crowd and dumped the Usos from the ring.
Owens gave Reigns a stunner. Zayn gave Reigns a Helluva kick.
Owens and Zayn brawled with the Usos out through the crowd.
Rhodes covered Reigns for a nearfall. The crowd is on its feet.
They exchanged strikes until Rhodes hit the Dusty jabs, Bionic elbow, and Goldust uppercut.
Rhodes hit two consecutive Cross Rhodes but Heyman distracted the referee.
Sikoa in a hood reemerged and gave Rhodes the Samoan Spike. Reigns speared Rhodes.
Records that will be set during WrestleMania weekend
Match by match previews, odds, and what are the goals of the matches
Ticket sales for the six major shows in Los Angeles this week
Notes on NXT and AEW doing major shows on the same day on 5/28 and background of that story
A look at the career of Tim White, going into the Hall of Fame
Stand & Deliver and Supercard of Honor previews
Secondary market interest in all of the shows
Update on WWE sale
Update on Vince McMahon as it pertains to WrestleMania and the sale
A look at the careers of Anderson Silva and Donald Cerrone as they go into the UFC Hall of Fame
Full coverage of this past week’s UFC show, business notes, problems that seem to always be there in Texas and why
Notes on the first AAA TripleMania show of 2023 and the AEW relationship, the tag team tournament that will lead to a mask or hair being cut, another mask match, a celebrity match that has gotten mainstream news in Mexico and a funny story behind it, and more.
How many homes are the major stations that carry wrestling and MMA in as compared to the peak
The most detailed look at the ratings for the past week’s shows, competition, quarter hours, the weekly standings and more
80th anniversary of pro wrestling in one of the major arenas in the world coming up this weekend
Wrestler whose matches are now not being put up new on YouTube and why
Kairi talks AEW & WWE talent she’d like to work with
Stardom Cinderella tournament news and new major matches
Lots of injuries to major stars being talked about
Konosuke Takeshita returns to Japan this past week to team with former WWE star
Mark Hitchock Memorial show with top matches
XPW returns
RevPro York Hall big show notes
Bloodsport notes including the first match back of Kota Ibushi
Impact dealing with key injuries and crowning one or two new champions
Impact star competing in a bodybuilding contest this week
Impact uses former NHL star who has been doing indie shows
Tons of AEW news including Jon Moxley’s podcast interview, C.M. Punk’s potential return, next PPV show
Don Callis injury update
Notes on timing of a major return
Tony Khan’s view of ROH compared to AEW and who ROH is aimed for
Honor Club update
AEW All Access first episode looked at
AEW’s top merchandise sellers
Tony Khan on MJF as a babyface
Vickie Guerrero talks leaving AEW
International TV ratings and streaming numbers
New UFC main events
Fighter attempts to win title in third weight class
Benavidez vs. Plant boxing numbers and what percentage of AEW & WWE big show buyers purchased that PPV
MMA stars in major boxing event this week
Promotion with its own unique audience with 91 percent of TV viewers not watching any rival promotion on TV
Nick Khan talks TV rights
What Nick Khan says are the most important things to WWE
Rey Mysterio’s future and how long he wants to wrestle
Update on Dominik Mysterio
Interesting note on Rey Mysterio’s career
Ronda Rousey talks creative and not in flattering way
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Sunday Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering night two of WrestleMania. We did shows Friday night covering the TV shows and ROH Supercard of Honor, and last night covering the latest news and WrestleMania night one, previewed night two and NXT Stand & Deliver. We’ll also be up after Raw tomorrow.
There are multiple reports out that it will be announced tomorrow that Endeavor has purchased the majority interest in WWE. This CNBC story that just broke said that Endeavor would spin WWE & UFC into a separate publicly traded company, which would allow both the UFC and WWE profits to pay the interest and that this deal could be announced as early as tomorrow. The story is that Endeavor would create a joint company composed of both UFC and WWE. They would have people in place in the company which would enable them to cut duplicate jobs if necessary, lowering costs, plus negotiate deals either together or separately with using the power of owning both brands. The idea is through owning both brands they could use that leverage to get higher rights fees for both properties. The rest of Endeavor would become a separate company. Notable in that is that the UFC profits have been valuable in the old Endeavor company in carrying it. Ari Emanuel would run both companies. Vince McMahon and Mark Shapiro would be Executive Chairmans of the new company while Nick Khan would remain president of WWE and Dana White would remain president of UFC. Essentially that gives McMahon even greater power in the sense he would be co-chair of both WWE and UFC if the story is accurate. Emanuel had said multiple times of late that he wasn’t interested in buying WWE and they were trying to lower the company debt. The new company would theoretically pick up the UFC and WWE purchase debt.
Regarding Randy Orton, on Friday we were told by WWE and actually asked to put out that he was not ready to return for a while due to his recovery from injuries and were told they wanted that out with the idea people shouldn’t get their hopes up for an appearance. The only reason I’m bringing that up is because Nick Khan did say in an interview this week that Pat McAfee would not be part of WrestleMania this year (which was kept secret from everyone) and there he was last night. When asking others nobody knew of plans for Orton for tonight but that would likely be a secret if there were.
The WrestleMania match order as of a few hours ago was:
Brock Lesnar vs. Omos
Shayna Baszler & Ronda Rousey vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green vs. Natalya & Shotzi
Gunther vs. Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre for the IC title
Bianca Belair vs. Asuka for the Raw Women’s title
Edge vs. Finn Balor Hell in a Cell
Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed title
There will be major ring entrances of course like last night including for Edge and Finn Balor. Everything points to Brood Edge as part of the presentation and it’s already been announced Demon Balor. There is the Hall of Fame announcement later in the show. Bobby Lashley has been saying he will issue an open challenge.
As of this morning there were 67,134 tickets out for tonight’s show and 88 remaining plus 1,522 secondary market tickets that were purchased but not yet sold (which is not unusual at all). There will probably be some tickets opened up late like happened yesterday.
There were a lot of chants for LA Knight when they talked about The Miz open challenge last night and “Yeahs.” Fans were after clearly wanting Knight to be the guy Lashley faces tonight. Houston Mitchell of the LA Times said he’s been going to wrestling for over 40 years and has rarely seen a groundswell of support for a guy out of nowhere like that and can’t believe it’s just because his name is LA.
Dustin Rhodes is in Los Angeles
Dante Martin was released from the hospital and was with Tony Khan. There is no update regarding the medical procedure.
MJF will be getting a key to the city of Oyster Bay on Long Island tomorrow at 2 p.m.. at Oyster Bay Town Hall.
For the weekend we are dong polls on ROH Supercard of Honor, NXT Stand & Deliver and both nights of WrestleMania. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match from all four shows to [email protected]
We are also looking for reports from the GCW Hall of Fame ceremony today as well as any of the Los Angeles non-WWE/ROH shows the last two days to [email protected]
As far as Google searches go for the week, WrestleMania had 500,000 thus far for Friday/Saturday and was second behind the Final Four for the week. Snoop Dogg was No. 18 yesterday although that was at least partially not due to WrestleMania and the lead story on him wasn’t Mania related. Nothing from MMA made the list with no UFC shows. But ROH and NXT didn’t nor would they be expected to crack the top 20. Anthony Joshua was No 10 yesterday with 50,000 and Roy Jones Jr., who boxed MMA star Anthony Pettis last night in Milwaukee, was No; 15 with 20,000.
Pettis beat the 54-year-old Jones via decision in a boxing match in Milwaukee last night via eight round decision. Vitor Belfort also knocked down Jacare Souza three times in winning a decision on the show, while Jose Aldo went to a draw on that show with Jeremy Stephens. Aldo in his post-fight interview went hard on Conor McGregor claiming McGregor turned down a rematch with him. McGregor responded of course saying that the two of them should box.
I am back with a Sunday edition of Wrestling Observer Live, once again joined by Rich Stambolian of Mat Men to discuss the best from Saturday’s WWE WrestleMania 39 lineup and provide a look ahead to tonight’s action.
We talk about the overall presentation and how it’s no longer just a pro wrestling show but resembles an award show instead.
We run through the entire night one card including thoughts on Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair being our match of the night, the culmination of this stage of The Bloodline and Mysterio family storylines, and Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn getting their flowers.
We take look at tonight’s card and what we are most looking forward to.
Plus we talk Vince McMahon being on headset, Triple H’s comments from the press conference, and more.
The first night of WWE WrestleMania 39 was an excellent show — the first WrestleMania in a long time where most matches delivered and even the worst matches were merely fine.
The top two matches on the card were excellent.
Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens, in storybook fashion, defeated The Usos to win the undisputed WWE Tag Team titles for the first time. It was a dramatic match filled with excellent near falls towards the end and the crowd ended up being hot for just about everything. And when Zayn and Owens won, the people loved it. A WrestleMania ending on a happy note — who would have thunk it?
It is hard to speculate what happens now as we still have another half of the show to go on Sunday. I think back to a promo not too long ago where Cody Rhodes predicted that The Usos, Solo Sikoa, and others would eventually turn on him, causing his downfall. I wonder if the first show is due to drop on Sunday if Roman Reigns loses.
Charlotte and Rhea Ripley, who co-main evented, worked as if they were, in fact, in the main event.
I feel like while the main event had dramatic elements that really added to it, this match was an excellent back-and-forth workrate-type match that delivered in spades. This was the best Ripley match ever and I can’t think of too many Charlotte matches that were this good either. Rhea winning was the right choice and she should have the title for a long time to come.
Elsewhere on the card:
John Cena and Austin Theory had a very basic by the numbers match. Nothing bad, nothing good — this was a match that existed. I’m struggling to figure out what the deal with Theory is because this rebranding really isn’t working and he just doesn’t stand out. They want him to be something, but there’s something missing. You can tell me 10,000 times he’s a star but none of that will be true until he finds it.
The tag team showcase was as advertised: a showcase for four teams that did all sorts of cool stuff. Probably the craziest move of the night was Chad Gable hitting Braun Strowman with a Chaos Theory suplex. Yes, you weren’t dreaming, that happened. This a match where they just let the four teams stand out and it exceeded expectations.
Dominik and Rey Mysterio had a really good match. I think what worked best here were the dramatic elements. When Rey SPANKED HIS SON with a belt, the people absolutely loved it. People hated it when he threw the drink at his sister, same when his mother slapped him after he insulted her. It is fascinating to see just how well Dominik adapted to being what he is now. He knows exactly what he needs to do and is very smart about it, and turning heel was the best thing for his career.
Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul was good, but not great. The Reigns match in Saudi Arabia was better. More than anything else in this match, however, I’ll probably remember KSI getting put through that table by Paul.
Trish Stratus, Becky, and Lita vs. Damage CTRL was fine. There were some cool spots, like when Stratus took Dakota Kai with her feet and threw her off the turnbuckle onto her partners below. But, this was just merely fine in a sea of really good matches. I do wonder what the program is for Becky Lynch next. There had been rumors of a Trish Stratus heel turn, but they did not happen here;
I don’t remember anything about Pat McAfee and The Miz match except for that I hated this was put on prior to the main event as I just wanted to see the damn main event. Not very good filler.
Stay tuned to the second part of this WrestleMania review Monday morning where we’ll finally see if Cody Rhodes can defeat Roman Reigns. And don’t forget Brock Lesnar vs. Omos. I can’t wait.
Days after officially becoming an employee again, WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon was put back to work as he was backstage at Saturday’s first night of WrestleMania 39 and even on headset.
PWInsider first reported Saturday night that McMahon was backstage with his own office which was said to be near the gorilla position. It also stated he was on headset, giving feedback, and asking questions.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, our Dave Meltzer confirmed the report, saying he was not running the show but that McMahon is “very much involved now.”
This is a change since McMahon’s surprise backstage appearance on a late-March edition of Raw in Boston where it was said he was simply there to visit John Cena.
On Friday, it was announced by WWE that McMahon had signed an employee contract to go along with his Executive Chairman Board position he orchestrated his return to back in January in an effort to facilitate and head up a sale of the company.
Since that time, speculation has grown as to McMahon’s increased role within creative, headed up by his son-in-law Paul Levesque, which has been downplayed by WWE CEO Nick Khan.
Sami Zayn came out of WrestleMania Saturday looking like a star.
Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens’ win at WrestleMania 39 Saturday night. Alvarez told a story about how he was once in a car with Zayn back around 2006 and he looked like he could barely move.
“He looked like he was moving close to retirement,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez pointed out that even back then, however, whenever people talked about the then El Generico, they always put him over as someone that stole the show.
“That was the reputation he had. Every Generico match is always the best match on the show,” Alvarez said.
Metlzer said that Zayn, who with Owens won the Undisputed Tag Team titles, was the star of the show at WrestleMania Saturday.
“He was the real main eventer, the key to everything,” he said.
He also thought that it wasn’t the end between Zayn/Owens and The Usos, and it would be interesting to see where it goes from here.
WWE held a press conference following WrestleMania 39 Saturday in Los Angeles.
Rhea Ripley, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, Rey Mysterio, and Triple H all made comments during the event. Here are some notes:
Rhea Ripley said being the first grand slam champion is “so satisfying”. She said that the one thing she strives for is making history.
Rey Mysterio said riding to the ring with Snoop Dogg was “legendary”. He walked into his match very emotional, and a lot of what he did on Saturday was to honor Eddie Guerrero.
Kevin Owens said that he gives Super Dragon and PWG credit for getting them to this position. Says that it meant a lot to be here.
Sami Zayn said that there are many Hall of Fame level performers who didn’t get to be part of a story such as this. He said there was a sense of finality to this storyline, but also said that at any time, they could go back to it. He said that this could be a storyline that people could aspire to have. He compared the storyline to what The Sopranos did for television.
Zayn said that as much as he liked doing the match with Knoxville last year, the match in Montreal put him at the level where he is now.
Owens ended their interview by mentioning two other names that got them here: Jay and Mark Briscoe. Owens said he hoped they did them proud.
Triple H said they were able to break their all-time WrestleMania sponsorship record with 21 million in activations. He alsoclaimed that they broke SoFi’s attendance record, citing the 80,497 number given during the broadcast.
Triple H praised Charlotte as a “generational athlete”. Doesn’t recall seeing a match of hers where it “didn’t feel real.” Also praised Rhea Ripley to her growth in recent years, comparing her to Roman Reigns.
When asked about putting the Undisputed Tag Team title match in the main event, Triple H said the choice was made over what whas the most impactful storyline. He said it was about whatever storyline is resonating the most, and in this case he felt it was the The Usos vs. Owens & Zayn.
An interviewer asked about Bad Bunny potentially wrestling at Backlash in Puerto Rico. After praising recent celebrity performers like Logan Paul, Triple H says if Bad Bunny wants in that ring, he has his number and they can talk.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including full and in-depth live and TV coverage of a fantastic night one of WWE WrestleMania, including the main event where Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens won the WWE Tag Team titles, Rhea Ripley winning the SmackDown Women’s title, and NXT Stand & Deliver with new champions crowned. They also hit on the unfortunate Gisele Shaw and Rick Steiner situation.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has sent a message to WWE and its fans on WrestleMania 39 weekend.
In a video posted to his social media channels early Sunday morning Eastern time, The Rock had words for WWE fans, wrestlers, personnel, as well as a comment on his daughter Simone’s in-ring debut as Ava at Saturday’s NXT Stand & Deliver event.
The Rock called the fans “our anchor,” and encouraged them to “have a blast” at WrestleMania:
Have fun. Enjoy WrestleMania. Everyone is performing for you.
The Rock addressed WWE wrestlers, and encouraged them to have good performances at WrestleMania:
Move the crowd, and have some f—ing fun… Move the crowd, have fun, connect with that crowd.
The Rock specifically mentioned Roman Reigns, The Usos, Solo Sikoa, and Cody Rhodes, and said that he was looking forward to Reigns vs. Rhodes, and teased a future appearance:
I’m looking forward to all the matches, but especially the main event. Roman Reigns, my cousin, the Universal Champion, and to my family — The entire Bloodline — Jey, Jimmy, Solo, we’re so proud of you guys.
And who knows? Maybe, just maybe, down the road, I’ll see you in person.
And of course his opponent, a man I have tremendous love and respect for, Cody Rhodes. He’s my boy, in a way we grew up together. Our families were together when we were kids. “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes and “The Soulman” Rocky Johnson, when they were partners. We would hang at each others’ house all the time when we were little kids.
But Cody, your journey is so incredibly inspiring not only to the WWE Universe, not only to your fellow brothers and sisters of the locker room, but also to me as well. So, very proud of you, brother.
Johnson also commented on his daughter’s in-ring debut on Saturday, and congratulated the NXT performers:
This morning was a big, big morning for NXT, all the performers of NXT, including my daughter Simone — Ava Raine baby! She made her big debut. So proud of you, baby girl. Keep up the great work. So congratulations to NXT.
The Rock’s full message can be seen below.
Sending electric energy, love, gratitude and support to our WWE Universe, Team WWE and my fellow women and men @WWE & @WWENXT Superstars whom I will always have your backs. Make history this weekend, move the crowd and have fun. ~ People’s Champ 💪🏾#Wrestlemaniapic.twitter.com/J88VExgwy7
The Nikes Cena wore during his match with Austin Theory were a shoutout to the famous Kowloon restaurant in Massachusetts who sold custom pairs earlier this year. The restaurant is well-known for hosting pro wrestlers over its 70 years in existence and features a ton of memorabilia.
John Cena kicked off WrestleMania wearing the Kowloon Nikes. What a legend. Saugus always doing it big. pic.twitter.com/JCD2cHKqYU
As those who watched the event know, YouTube star and musician KSI was the person in the PRIME bottle during the Logan Paul vs. Seth Rollins match. The two boxed against each other twice and then went into business together as founders of the popular drink company.
Not only was the legendary rapper the co-host of the show along with The Miz, he also drove Rey Mysterio out to the stage as part of his entrance, complete with the gold WWE Championship belt he famously lost and then found.
Lil Uzi Vert
In a night featuring several musicians, the 27-year-old Vert performed “Just Wanna Rock” as part of The Usos’ entrance.
Dan Barry
Longtime indie wrestler Dan Barry was one of the lead guards helping escort Dominik Mysterio to the ring. The 40-year-old has been a wrestler since 2003.
Fine Daniel, We understand why you were too busy to hang out with us and shoot interviews today.
This was Michael Cole’s 22nd WrestleMania, the most of any announcer.
In the Rhea Ripley/Charlotte Flair match, Cole noted it was the first time in WWE history that the wrestlers, ring announcer and referee were all female.
